Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i GAY TIMES

The July issue of GAY TIMES comes shortly before Pride in London, and a spirit of celebration is in the air. Pride is a time for us to reflect on the year in queer life – and no queen has made a bigger impact in the past twelve months than the one and only Nymphia wind. Following her triumphant reign on season 16 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, becoming the franchise’s first East Asian winner, Nymphia speaks with personal friend (and former GT cover star) Joel Kim Booster about her historic win, gaining praise from Taiwan’s President and life post Drag Race. Another queer trailblazer covering this issue is Swedish experimental musician Fever Ray. Speaking to Anna Cafolla, they discuss their There’s No Place I'd Rather Be tour, overcoming chronic…

Karin Dreijer steps out on the west London stage to a shrieking crowd that’s dressed to sweat – despite the winter chill still constricting the city in March – and that will more than likely shed some tears. Several people, clad in leather, lace and latex, are holding rose stems aloft, pre-empting their own rapturous receival of the Swedish musician and producer’s project, Fever Ray. This is the There’s No Place I’d Rather Be tour, after all. For many here, it’s their first IRL access point to the campy, cinematic world of Fever Ray’s third album Radical Romantics – their first record in five years. The stage floor is a swamp of white smoke, punctured by a singular street lamp that stutters along to the opening bassy, delirious synths of…

How do we make games queer? How can games writers and developers represent queerness in newer, spikier, more exciting ways, particularly when they’re managing the desires of a wide and unpredictable player base? Developers have to circle a range of development choices to answer this question for themselves: whether to make characters have specific sexualities, or just make them all open to the player; making queer content dependent on choices or not; prioritising explicit representation vs prioritising more ambiguous presentations of queer experience. One thing we often don’t think about explicitly, however, is what to do with – and how to represent – the unwanted aspects of queerness. What can games do with queer pain? Queer boredom? Queer disappointment? Gaming culture has a long and storied homophobic history. The majority…

Calvin Klein This is Love Pride Collection Starting at £20. It wouldn’t be Pride without Calvin Klein serving up their iconic annual Pride collection. Bursting with vibrancy and empowerment, Calvin Klein present their This Is Love 2024 campaign starring queer powerhouses Cara Delevingne and Jeremy Pope. Lensed by Gordon von Steiner, Delevingne and Pope express their unapologetic boldness and confidence in their covetable Calvin Klein fits, embodying and embracing the joyful, confident energy of Pride. The collection itself infuses classic Calvin Klein underwear and apparel staples with the vibrant energy and colour of Pride. New Intense Power underwear styles are refreshed with a bold, limited-edition logo waistband designed with a bright rainbow gradient for a colorful styling statement. With signature Cotton Stretch and Modern Cotton underwear styles being updated in…

“After this interview comes out, you will be inundated – flooded, even – with dick,” Joel Kim Booster tells/promises Nymphia Wind. Earlier this year, the banana activist (bananactivist?) and trailblazing Jane Goodall impersonator ‘Padam Padam’-ed her way to glory on RuPaul’s Drag Race, making history as the first East Asian champion of the OG franchise. Nymphia’s triumph was widely celebrated by various alumni and stars such as – you might need to Google the following names, as they’re not very popular – Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga and Kylie Minogue, particularly those within her community who have been “hungry” to see an “Asian success story” on-screen. Here, she reunites with season 16 guest judge Joel Kim Booster, Emmy-nominated comedian and mastermind behind Fire Island, to reflect on life post-Drag Race, how…

For Pride 2024, Levi’s brand is celebrating queer joy through self-expression with a collection inspired by LGBTQIA+ rodeo culture. Western wear is part of the Levi’s DNA, and the brand’s Pride 2024 collection takes inspiration from queer “Rainbow Rodeos” that originated in Nevada in the 1970s. Pulling graphics and influences from vintage Levi’s pieces and archival posters then adding some glitz – rhinestones, copper thread, marbled hardware, gold-coated denim and more – the collection includes an extensive assortment of tops, bottoms and accessories. From the Cropped Muscle Tank and 517™ Bootcut Jeans to the Liberation Western Trucker and matching 501® '93 Cut-Off Shorts Western-inspired embroidery and rainbow colouring give the collection a cohesive and euphoric rodeo look. Featuring reversible styles and head-to-toe fits, this is a collection designed to mix,…